“A lot of people in America are not well-informed or misinformed about Islam, the religion itself and the culture of Islam,” says 17-year-old Explorer Lieutenant Moustafa Maarouf, with the Explorer Post 94.

So, he created the presentation, “Understand Islam – A Guide for Law Enforcement Officers.”

Maarouf has been with Explorer Post 94, based in EHT, for the past three years. He and his fellow explorer lieutenant, Maria Herouvis, help volunteer police officers from South Jersey run the Egg Harbor Township Law Enforcement Explorer Post 94 program.

“We basically hand the program over to them and they do a phenomenal job taking care of the other kids here,” says Officer Edward Stearns, an advisor for the post.

Maarouf and Herouvis are two of only 30 explorers nationwide to get accepted to a leadership academy in Washington D.C. But first, Maarouf wanted to take his own experiences and apply it to the training in Egg Harbor Township.